After Market Shift Knob Woes

[floating_weasel]

Hi guys, I need advice.
I bought a rather snazzy looking carbon fibre after market shifter
but when fully screwed on, it does not screw on the shifting rod all
the way down and so I am left with the exposed rod and some
threads, as well as the unfinished top of the leather boot.

It seems as though there is some sort of threaded plastic holder for
the boot underneath it. Would the best course of action be to try and
raise that up ? If so, any idea on how I would go about doing that ?
Do I have to take out the centre console panels ?

Or will I have to do something drastic like take a dremel and a cutting
wheel and slice off some of the excess threading on the shift rod ?

Thanks in advance !

F_Weasel

P.S. Got my vibrant exhaust in today. Even my mechanic says it looks
slick and was a no brainer install, and the growl, oh the growl.
(insert happy dance here)

[SABIO]

Just take out the ashtray. You can carefully remove the section that holds the shifter boot. It should just pull off the shift rod.
Place some rubber washers over the shift rod. There is a stop on the rod to prevent the shift boot from going down to far on the rod.
By adding the washers, it will keep the boot from going all the way down on the rod.
When you screw your shifter back on, the boot will be higher on the shaft and hide the threads that are showing.

ummm...ok? :) mind you, my 3 was a 2004. i am guessing the set-up is the same.

[azn_outlaw]

yeah that would be the case...

or instead of rubber washers...

you can do exactly what Sabio did, but replace rubber washers with electric tape..

and if you want a slick carbon fiber boot to go with your fancy shift knob

www.redlinegoods.com

is excellent for custom shift boots and they have a specific one for the Mazda3